joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  

Fraud email example:

From: "MARY JANE ANNAN" <mary_jane322gh@yahoo.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: mari_jane322@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2006 23:52:32 +0100
Subject: TREAT AS URGENT PLEASE

From: Mrs Mary Jane
International Commercial Bank,
Ghana West Africa.

Dear Friend,
I got your contact during my search on the Internet, search for a honest person My name is Mrs.Mary Jane. The regional manager of International Commercial Bank, Teshie Nungua Branch Ghana. I am a Ghanaian by birth, 46years of age and married with three children .
Although i am not comfortable to send this proposal to you because of increase in SCAM and FRAUD especially in Africa , but i am too sure that this is not Scam because you have access to confirm, provided you did not let my Bank know the source of your information. I have packaged a financial transaction that will benefit both of us. As the regional manager of the bank, it is my duty to send financial reports to my head office in the capital city of Accra Ghana.
On the course of the last year 2004 end of the year's report, i discovered that my branch, in which I am the manager, made twenty-four million us dollars. ($24,000,000.00) Of which my head office is not aware and will never be aware of it. I have since then PLACED this fund in an ESCROW CALL ACCOUNT without a beneficiary. As the regional manager of the bank, I cannot be directly connected to this Money thus, I am impelled to request for your assistance to receive this money into your bank account.
I intend to part 25% of this fund to you while 75% shall be for me and two officers who will assist me move the fund to your account. I do need to assure you that there are no risks involved in this Business. it is going to be a Bank-to-Bank transfer. All i need from you is to stand as the original depositor of this fund. If you accept this offer, i will appreciate your timely response and then we shall discuss on how you will keep our share.
With regards,
Mary Jane

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam